TNF and Sepsis: To address if the impaired clearance of S. pneumoniae in Tet2–/– mice was accompanied by excessive or unregulated inflammation that is typical of sepsis (38), we correlated the main inflammatory mediators TNF, IL6, IFN-γ, MCP1, and IL1-β in circulation with corresponding CFUs in the CNT at day 10 p.i. There was a significant positive relationship between CFUs and all inflammatory mediators in the CNT (Figure 4I).